The L.C. Smith Collectors Association
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    Wall thickness Archived Message

    Posted by Drew Hause on January 26, 2016, 5:16 pm, in reply to "Old Guns"

    My since departed 94 year old Mormon skeet shooting buddy found a 1906 16g 0E Smith in Rexburg, Idaho the summer of 2013.



    I didn't have my wall thickness gauge at that point, but measured the bore .653 (Hunter Arms standard for that era .650). It did have suspiciously clean bores.
    The chambers were 2 9/16" so I got him some 2 1/2" 7/8 oz. loads from William Larkin Moore. He ended up shooting up 4 boxes and the full & fuller chokes broke targets with authority.
    Sent it off to Mark Beasland http://www.mbabllc.com for a look over and barrel refinish, and he found the right barrel to be thin and returned the gun with the advice not to shoot it. He noted draw marks and suspected pitting on the exterior of the right barrel had been filed.
    Sure 'nuff I measured (from the breech) 9" - .032", 12" - .020", 14" - .016", 16" - .018", 20 - .022" on the lateral wall of the right barrel.
    Left barrel was fine; .044 at 9" and .028 9" from the muzzle.

    A 108 year old Damascus barrel about HALF of the recommended wall thickness survived 100 7/8 oz. shells without a bulge or rupture. Found a very old report for RST 2 1/2" 7/8 oz. at 1125 fps with 7720 psi by Tom Armbrust.

    Psalm 116:6 "The Lord protects the clueless"...but only for so long

    Message Thread:

    • Old Guns - Dkubosh January 26, 2016, 4:54 pm
      • Wall thickness - Drew Hause January 26, 2016, 5:16 pm
        • Re: Old Guns - David Williamson January 26, 2016, 8:02 pm